GOOD CAUSE: Lisa Ho runs hip hop classes for young people and the profits go to a Cambodian children's charity.
NICOLA MURPHY
stuff.co.nz
Last updated 12/04/2011
A two-week trip to her mother's home country turned into a year-long journey of personal discovery for Lisa Ho.
The Blockhouse Bay resident spent a year volunteering at a charity called Tiny Toones in Cambodia in 2009.
Now she is running children's hip hop classes in New Lynn and donating all the profits to Tiny Toones.
Miss Ho has a background in dance and studied commerce at the University of Auckland.
She travelled to Cambodia in December 2008 to find out more about where her mother grew up.
"She had told me bedtime stories about running away from soldiers and eating spiders but I didn't know very much about the country."
Miss Ho was shocked by what she saw when she arrived.
"It's another world, it's very lawless," she says.
The 25-year-old discovered Tiny Toones, a non-government organisation which works with underprivileged youth in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
She liked what the group was trying to achieve through dance and education and jumped on board as an administrator.
Miss Ho returned to New Zealand in December 2009 because she missed her family.
"It's still the best thing I've ever done," Miss Ho says.
"I couldn't see myself climbing up the corporate ladder."
She now works as a fundraising co-ordinator for Amnesty International but wanted to keep contributing to Tiny Toones in some way.
"I thought it would be good to start up something that could generate a revenue stream for the organisation," she says.
She decided to use her dance background and experiences of hip hop dancing in Cambodia to start some classes here.
They have been running since the beginning of February and Miss Ho hopes more people will sign on to the classes.
They are held at the New Lynn Sea Scouts Hall, 37 Margan Ave on Fridays.
They are $8 per session.
The classes are held from 4pm to 5pm for six to nine-year-olds and from 5pm to 6pm for 10 to 14-year-olds.
Call 021-1135-074 or email zyondance@gmail.com.
stuff.co.nz
Last updated 12/04/2011
A two-week trip to her mother's home country turned into a year-long journey of personal discovery for Lisa Ho.
The Blockhouse Bay resident spent a year volunteering at a charity called Tiny Toones in Cambodia in 2009.
Now she is running children's hip hop classes in New Lynn and donating all the profits to Tiny Toones.
Miss Ho has a background in dance and studied commerce at the University of Auckland.
She travelled to Cambodia in December 2008 to find out more about where her mother grew up.
"She had told me bedtime stories about running away from soldiers and eating spiders but I didn't know very much about the country."
Miss Ho was shocked by what she saw when she arrived.
"It's another world, it's very lawless," she says.
The 25-year-old discovered Tiny Toones, a non-government organisation which works with underprivileged youth in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
She liked what the group was trying to achieve through dance and education and jumped on board as an administrator.
Miss Ho returned to New Zealand in December 2009 because she missed her family.
"It's still the best thing I've ever done," Miss Ho says.
"I couldn't see myself climbing up the corporate ladder."
She now works as a fundraising co-ordinator for Amnesty International but wanted to keep contributing to Tiny Toones in some way.
"I thought it would be good to start up something that could generate a revenue stream for the organisation," she says.
She decided to use her dance background and experiences of hip hop dancing in Cambodia to start some classes here.
They have been running since the beginning of February and Miss Ho hopes more people will sign on to the classes.
They are held at the New Lynn Sea Scouts Hall, 37 Margan Ave on Fridays.
They are $8 per session.
The classes are held from 4pm to 5pm for six to nine-year-olds and from 5pm to 6pm for 10 to 14-year-olds.
Call 021-1135-074 or email zyondance@gmail.com.
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